The Matriarch Prophecy
by BenJMyhn
Summary: 25 years after ROJ. The New Republic has a new threat. Some want to help. Some want political gain. Some just want to be left the hell alone. This is my version of fanfic; there are only a couple cameos by original characters, the rest is something that I have created within the wonderful universe that George Lucas has created.
1. Chapter 1

Dripping with sweat, and nearly to the point of absolute exhaustion, the large, muscular man forced his mind to concentrate on finishing one last Jedi training exercise. By rights he should have collapsed where he stood hours ago, but through the force, as well as sheer will power, he has sustained himself long enough to ensure a dreamless sleep when he finally did succumb to exhaustion.

"So much pain, so much anguish." A female voice said, almost motherly. Though no other living being was present. "You're not responsible for what happened, Young Padawan. Why do you torment yourself?"

"Guilt by association, I guess." Ash said, ignoring the glowing green image of a woman in Jedi robes, hovering over a large gem on a table in the corner of the room. He spun his lightsaber around so fast the blades protruding from either end appeared to have elongated into one large disk of amber light.

"But no one-" the voice said, but stopped as the young man launched into a round of spinning blades and kicking feet so fast that it was nearly impossible to tell where the blades stopped and human began.

"But the only ones who know are your immediate family. You've erased every other known link between you and your ancestral history." The woman's green image said. "There's nothing left to associate you with- Ash, Be careful!"

One of the saber blades had come too close to his side. It had come close enough to burn a hole in a part of his shirt that was actually dry, and not stuck to him with sweat.

"Maybe it'll end the argument of if I'm going to follow in my ancestor's footsteps."

"Now that's enough, Young man! I've not trained you day and night for the last 5 years to have you run off to the dark side, or get yourself killed in training exercises while trying some new reckless stunt."

Breathing heavily, Ash stopped with his exercises. Frowning with the realization that he went a little too far, he stood up straight letting go of his saber's internal activation switches with the force. Immediately, two amber blades shrank back into either side of the long shell like beige and jade handle.

"I'm sorry, master." He said, using his hands to mop sweat from his long hair, and neatly trimmed beard.

"I think that's enough for tonight Padawan." The green image said recomposing herself. "You should go to the refresher before heading off to bed."

His shoulders visibly dropped as he gave an exhausted sigh before reaching out his hand. A small stick, which looked to be fashioned from the same beige and jade shell as the handle of his double saber, flew through the air towards him. Ash grabbed it and attached it to one side of his saber's handle, creating the illusion that Ash was holding an exotic walking stick, and nothing else.

He casually tossed his walking stick to one side, and pealed off his sweat soaked shirt to inspect the new burn hole in it. The walking stick glided gracefully through the air, landing upright, leaning in a corner.

While he was vaguely aware that most people would have been a little more than slightly unnerved at the prospect of becoming one with the force in a whole new way, it didn't even faze him. He may have even welcomed it, but he didn't dwell on it.

His main focus wasn't on his on demise. His thoughts weren't on his shirt either, or even on his job for tomorrow. Instead, his thoughts were on the up coming pod-race. He guarded his feelings, but couldn't help but wonder how many would be racing; what the odds would be, and who would be the winner.

He had to be careful about it though; his master disapproved of gambling. And, though she was trapped inside a Jedi holocron, could still make up some disciplinary actions destined for the history books.

All things considered, however, he had a good feeling about the next race.

Wrapped only in a towel as he left the refresher station, his movements were interrupted as he felt his master probe his thoughts through the force.

"You're thinking about gambling again, aren't you?" The woman's green image asked, scornfully.

"Yeah." He admitted. It wouldn't do any good to even think about lying to her. But he changed the subject quickly with: "Were you watching me?"

"HA!" She exclaimed readjusting her robes, slightly embarrassed at the thought. "As if I could."

"Good. The last thing I need is a long dead peeping-Jedi for a master." He commented just loud enough for her to hear.

"Well, maybe next time I will." She said, placing her fists on her hips. "How would you like that?"

"You want to see what's under this towel?" He asked, making to pull it off. She folded her arms in disbelief.

"Here." He pulled the towel off and tossed it on top of the holocron. "You are! You're under the towel."

"Ash Peturra!" She exclaimed, and used the force to push the towel off of the holocron and onto the floor just in time to see the perfectly toned muscles on Ash's hindquarter as he entered his bedroom.

"Good night, Master." Ash said, grinning like a practical joking teenager.

"Good night, Padawan." The Jedi Master answered shaking her head and trying feebly to hide a smirk. "Nice butt."

"Hey! You were looking!" Ash exclaimed in disbelief, poking his head around to look at his now laughing Jedi Master.

"Gottcha." She said chuckling.

Sighing with a smirk, Ash closed the door and crawled into bed. His last conscious thoughts were of his master. How she was always full of surprises. The fact that she was able to put herself into a holocron was the greatest mystery of all. The Jedi have been known to record all of their lives and knowledge of the force into a holocron, but no one had ever put themselves into one.

He wouldn't be surprised if she found a way out of the holocron and back to the world of the living. But he couldn't even begin to speculate how; he was asleep before he realized it.

And it would be a good night's sleep; he would not dream. There would not be millions of people reaching out to him, demanding his attention.

The next day, he performed his morning meditation alone. His master had been insisting that he meditate and train more on his own lately. Almost as if she knew something, but wouldn't say what, or even admit to it.

Afterwards, he scrounged up enough food for breakfast before breaking his high orbit and landing on the pale bleak planet below. Before disembarking Ash threw on his signature forest green poncho, grabbed his walking stick and checked the local weather report.

"40 Degrees Celsius already, and it's not even mid day." Ash said to himself, frowning. "Why do I bother checking the report? Why do I bother even coming here?"

But Ash already knew the answer to that question. He was on this scorched sand pile of a planet to deliver ice; freshly chiseled ice from Hoth. And Tattooine was in desperate need of some cooling down. The air was always hot. Hot and dry. And Ash didn't care for it at all.

Putting all that behind him, he brought his ship down about a hundred yards from a large sandblasted building with a delivery ramp. As his repulsor lifts powered down, a repulsor sled began its way toward the loading door of Ash's ship, a medium freight bulk cruiser. The "Ice T".

Early that evening, with ninety percent of his deliveries completed, he decided to take lunch. Ducking into one of the many cantinas in the spaceport town of Mos Ooso, he was greeted by several things all at once; First and fore most, darkness. Cantinas didn't have much in the way of windows, for obvious reasons, as well as not so obvious, yet practical reasons.

Most patrons to a cantina, especially on Tattooine, don't want very much attention, and the lack of windows provided just enough darkness to allow those who want some attention to be seen, and those who prefer the company of shadows, to be anonymous.

The not so obvious reason for the lack of windows was simply because sandstorms can appear from out of nowhere, and sometimes last for a very long time, so the fewer windows in a building the better.

The second thing that greeted Ash was the music, or, what some beings referred to as music. To Ash it was the typical lyric-less, and usually lifeless, music that wafted from a jizzwailer band on a stage near the back. Playing just loud enough to be heard, yet quiet enough to be unobtrusive. Just upbeat enough to keep people interested, yet just mellow enough to keep people from wanting to get up and dance.

Ash didn't like jizzwailer music. He much preferred the more popular music found mostly on Corellia. But he wasn't in here for the music, so he just ignored it.

He was also greeted by the fragrance of several different scents. Mostly from the various drinks, and few food dishes served up in the cantina. But there were others: smoke for one, some more pungent than others, from different types of pipes smoked by the patrons. And last, but certainly not least, the various natural body odors from a hundred different species permeated everything.

He paused in the doorway, and slapped the dust from his poncho. This act also allowed his eyes to adjust to the dark interior. He also reached out with the force to gain a general feeling of the mood of the beings present in the cantina. Most people were tired from a long day's work, and were just looking to relax and have a drink.

That was good, the more tired and neutral the partons, the less likely he would be interrupted. The only beings he knew on Tattooine were the ones he sold his ice too, and one Rodian with whom he placed pod-racing bets. Other than that, he didn't know anyone, and really didn't want to.

He picked his way over to what appeared to be an empty table, and slid down into the seat with a sigh. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back, but before he could lift his head up, he sensed someone standing next to him.

"Comfortable?" Came a voice in basic.

"What?" Ash said confused. He always thought droids waited on people. Lifting his head, he noticed a drinking glass sitting on the other side of the table. Something he didn't see before.

"I'm sorry; I didn't know this table was taken." Ash began standing up. "Here, let me pay for your next round."

The other one waved it off. "It's not necessary, don't worry about it." He said sitting down. "To be honest, I wouldn't mind someone to talk to who actually speaks basic."

Ash sat back down and looked around for a wait droid. Not seeing one in the vicinity, he turned back to his new companion. The young man was solidly built, with short dark hair and dressed in the familiar style as the natives of Tattooine. But when he sat down, Ash noticed there was no exaggerated sigh of relief as typical of farmers.

"Service around here is bad." The man said. "When the droid does show up, I'd recommend you order two drinks."

"That bad, huh?" Ash asked.

"My name is Accuma. I run a moisture farm around here." The other said taking a drink. "Well, I try to run it."

"By yourself?"

"Yeah, just me and my droids."

"What made you decide to do that?"

"Fulfilling a dream."

"A dream?" Had Ash been taking a drink, he would have spit it out. "Who dreams of running a moisture farm on Tattooine?"

"Just a glutton for punishment, I guess." Accuma replied with a dismissive shrug. "Where are you from?"

"Hoth." Ash said. Suddenly it was Accuma's turn to nearly spit his drink.

"What in the hell brings you here from Hoth?"

"So, you're the Ice-miner, huh?" A gruff voice said before Ash could reply. Ash sensed a point of hostility in a being standing directly behind him.

"When you show up with ice around the harvest time, it drives the price of water down." The gruff voice said, bitterly. "So, what's with you Accuma? This guy's an Ice-miner!"

The point of hostility held by that one being rapidly turned into a wave of hostility which spread through out most of the cantina at the sound of 'ice miner.'

Ash stood up to face the being; a very hardened looking man of average height, but considerable mass. Behind him was a stocky Weequay. Ash waved a hand casually. "He has nothing to do with this, He didn't know."

"Maybe you didn't know this guy was an Ice-miner." The man said to Accuma, while keeping his eyes on Ash. Accuma looked from Ash to the other farmer with reservations building in his head.

"It doesssn't matter if he knew or not!" Another being said from behind Accuma, this one a trandoshan. "Neither of them belongsss here."

In one fluid motion Accuma stood up, and spun around to stand back to back with Ash.

"Daddy'sss not here to sssave you thisss time." The trandoshan hissed quietly. The scowl on Accuma's face got harder at the realization that he wasn't getting out of this easily.

Before anyone could say another word, fourteen more male beings surrounded Ash and Accuma, some wielding vibro axes, others holding force pikes, and a couple even holding blasters.

"Well, at least you got that annoying jizwailer band to stop playing." Ash said.

Those words seemed like the cue that every one was waiting for, because as soon as Ash said them, the large man charged in, leading with his vibro blade knife. Ash knocked it harmlessly to the side and poked the man in the throat with two fingers. Not hard enough to kill, just to knock the wind out of him, and take him out of the fight that Ash hoped wouldn't last very long.

The trandoshan lashed out at Accuma. But Accuma was faster. He sidestepped the attack, and lunged a powerful thrusting kick to the trandoshan's stomach, knocking the air out of him. That allowed the lesser trained hirelings to join the fray, and try to knock down their boss's target.

A Weequay, with the top half of a broken force pike lunged in almost clumsily. Accuma stepped to the side, grabbed the handle of the force pike, and punched the Weequay in the face with it. The Weequay fell sprawling backwards, leaving Accuma with his weapon.

"Maybe we should take this outside." Ash said over his shoulder to Accuma, as he twirled his walking stick and blocked a vibro axe.

"That would be a good idea, if we can move."

"Just follow my lead." Ash said spinning around and sending one man flying into a group of others, knocking them all back.

Seeing his opportunity, Ash grabbed onto the table next to him with the force, and sent it into the jumble of bodies trying to disentangle themselves.

"Come on!" He said to Accuma. Wordlessly the two of them sprang for the door. But right before they got to the door, it opened. Another weequay, holding a slug thrower was trying to enter, but he wasn't even able to register that the door was open when the two men ran him over on their way out of the cantina.

"Where's your speeder?" Ash asked looking up the busy street. As an answer, Accuma tapped him on the shoulder and pointed in the other direction.

"That's my speeder." Accuma said, pointing though a large group of men, who looked like they were waiting for him. There were at least as many men and weequay waiting for them outside as there were inside. And these guys weren't waiting for any signal before attacking.

"Aw, come on." Ash said exasperated. "These guys really don't like ice miners, do they?"

Jabbing one man in the gut with his stick, Ash took him out of the fight by bringing the end of his stick straight up under the man's chin with enough force to more than likely break his jaw, if not knock a few teeth out.

Spinning bodies and whirling force pikes and vibro axes accompanied the pair over to an ancient orange land speeder. But the attacking horde only grew steadily larger the closer they got to it.

Somehow Accuma managed to climb in, but he couldn't start it, every time he tried to sit down, he had to jump back up to defend himself.

On the other side of the speeder, Ash was knocking people into one another; causing a large tangled jumble of bodies that need to disentangle themselves from each other before charging back in to the fray. But if all went the way Ash had planned, neither he, nor Accuma would be there to fight when the jumble of farmers did finally stand back up.

Suddenly a twinge in the force demanded Ash's attention. He couldn't put off for later. Spinning around, he used his walking stick to deflect a blaster bolt away from him.

With out the light saber, Ash couldn't control where the bolt went. But these attackers were simple farmers struggling to survive; he had no intention of igniting the blade at the end of his walking stick and turning the fight deadly.

But where did a moisture farmer get his hands on a blaster? Don't they usually have slug throwers?

The shooter took aim again. But before he could pull the trigger a second time, Accuma hurled the top of the force pike at him, embedding the blade in the shooter's chest. A Weequay was all to happy to snatch up the blaster and start shooting at everything and nothing at the same time.

Knowing the accuracy of the average Weequay, Accuma felt free to turn his attention to starting his speeder, and let everyone else duck and cover from the wild shooting spree of the weequay.

The twin turbines roared to life, and almost as quickly churn slowly back down. Frustrated, Accuma smacked the steering bar, but then found another outlet for his frustration: a misplaced Sulustan with a vibro blade knife. He deflected the knife attack and kicked the Sulustan. The Sulustan fell backwards, taking several other being with him.

Ash's unspoken plan wasn't working as well as he wanted. It was taking Accuma too long to get the speeder running, and the attackers, some dressed less like farmers than others, were already starting to stand up and throw themselves at Ash again.

"Will you get this rusted out bucket of bolts up and running?" Ash shouted whacking a farmer in the head and turning to kick someone else in the stomach while blocking a vibro axe with his walking stick.

"You want out of here so bad, why don't you just push?"

"You know, I might just do that!" Someone grabbed Ash's shoulder, hoping to hold him. But Ash was too quick, he grabbed the man's hand, and spun in a full circle coming up behind the attacker. Not only was he behind his attacker now, but he had the man's hand and entire arm bound up.

A weequay lunged in with a club at Ash's head. But Ash twisted his prisoner's hand, deftly moving himself out of the club's strike point, and his prisoner into it. Not quick enough to stop his attack, the weequay knocked Ash's prisoner out cold. Ash let him fall to the ground and jumped into a spin kick to the weequay's head, which ended the fight for him too.

Landing with an ease and grace that totally defied his size, Ash spun around to catch another virbo axe on his walking stick. Continuing his spin, he off balanced the attacker and threw him towards the speeder.

Using that as a cover, Ash quickly concentrated a force push at the speeder. When the stumbling attacker hit the speeder, so did the force push, and the speeder lurched forward. The push was what the speeder needed. Ash smiled when he heard the turbines roar to life, and was even more relieved with they stayed running.

"Get in!" Accuma shouted jamming the gear into reverse. Ash kicked someone else in the chest before jumping onto the back and deflecting an accidentally well placed blaster bolt from the trigger happy weequay with his walking stick.

With out waiting to see if Ash had jumped in, Accuma threw the gear into forward, but had to do one more thing before he could leave. He backhanded a man wielding a vibro axe who was getting too close, liberated him of the weapon, and threw it at another attacker before hammering the throttle all way forward.

Ash grabbed onto the central stabilizer fin and watched the gathered crowd as they quickly disappeared in a cloud of dust. After finding his center, and thus his ability to move, he turned around and lunged forward, grabbing onto the top of the windshield and dropping his feet down into the seating compartment. Ash sat down with a satisfied sigh.

"Thanks for waiting for me." Ash said.

"Who was waiting? I couldn't get this thing started."

"Oh wow, and I thought Hoth was cold."

"I don't even know why I told you to get in. I came to Tattooine to stop fighting." Accuma said a little perturbed.

They studied each other for a moment before Ash said "Sorry."

"Ah, it's not your fault, don't worry about it." Accuma answered, calming down.

"Those farmers were after me, not you." Ash said.

"The farmers were, yes. But there were more than farmers represented in that bunch. The trandoshan is a bounty hunter; He brought his own flunkies. And he undoubtedly was the one who incited the farmers against you.

"What do you mean?"

"You were a convenient disguise, he was after me."

"Well, a bounty hunter explains the blasters. But what makes you so important?" Ash asked putting things together in his mind.

"That's what I came to Tattooine to forget about. And tell me about you; how is it you can fight like that?" Accuma asked, switching the focus of the conversation. The two studied each other for another moment, and Ash decided Accuma's past was not worth getting into another fight over. Besides, Ash himself wasn't exactly thrilled with his past either.

"I, uh, didn't spend my whole life on Hoth. I spent a few years on Correlia." Ash said. Sensing the next question, he added: "Both sides of my family have been part of Corsec for generations. They wanted me to have a head start. But there's still the next obvious question."

Accuma paused for a moment to reply the events in his head.

"What do you mean?"

"How did the Trandoshan know that I'm an ice-miner? And, how was he able to assemble all those farmers so quickly? I've never seen him before in my life. And frankly, I don't care to ever see him again."

"That is a mystery." Accuma said. But Ash got the notion that Accuma knew more than he was letting on. "So, your parents." Accuma said, changing the subject again.

"Yeah?"

"How good of a head start did they give you with repairing machines?"

Ash answered with a humph "I have to keep just about every machine running in our operation. Why?"

"One of my vaporators is on the fritz." Accuma said.

"You have anything to drink at your place?" Ash asked.

"I was hoping you'd ask that." Accuma said.

"Speaking of decrepit machines, will this speeder get you to Mos Espa?"

"Yeah, Why?"

"Because there's a small pod race tomorrow." Ash said.

"How did I become your chauffeur?" Accuma asked in protest.

"Well, my ship is that way." Ash said pointing back towards Mos Ooso.

"A gambling man, huh?" Accuma said after a moment of drumming his fingers on the steering bar.

"It's a hobby." Ash said trying to lean back to enjoy the wind in his hair. But even the speed they were traveling couldn't do anything to beat the extreme heat radiating from the twin suns of Tattooine.


	2. Chapter 2

After an hour of speeding across the Tattooine countryside, a little moisture farm

appeared on the horizon, and Ash couldn't help but feel totally relieved to see the end of his

journey through that oven.

"Well, this is the one that's been giving me so much trouble." Accuma said a while later,

pulling to a stop next to a vaporator. "I have no idea what's wrong with it. I've run diagnostics

twice, checked the read-out levels of everything, and yes, I've even tried shutting it down and

restarting it. Nothing seems to work."

"Hmmm." Ash said stroking his beard thoughtfully. "Well, let me have a look. I'll see

what I can do."

"I'll send my protocol droid out here with my tools."

"Protocol droid, huh? Great." Ash said, and by the tone of his voice, it wasn't hard for

Accuma to pick out Ash's true feelings toward protocol droids.

"I'll send her right out." Accuma said chuckling.

"Hey" Ash called. "I can't promise anything, but I still get that drink, right?"

"Yeah, sure." Accuma said climbing into his speeder. A moment later, he was off

towards the central dome of his moisture farm.

Ash ran a diagnostic check, and wasn't surprised when he found exactly what Accuma

had said. He removed a piece of the outer shielding to check to make sure the wiring and

circuitry wasn't encrusted with sand.

He found nothing, and had to reach higher to check above him. Still nothing, he'd have

to reach even higher.

By the time a lead colored protocol droid had made its way out to the vaporator, Ash was

hanging upside down from a cross beam.

"Hello, sir." The droid's female voice said, stoically, upon arrival. "I'm XJ 17."

"How are ya." Ash said, not really caring for an answer.

"Simply horrible. I wish master Accuma would move off this forsaken planet." The

droid's stoic front totally shattered. "It was so much better living…"

"Hand me that wrench." Ash said reaching his hand down (or up, depending on your

point of view). The droid complied, and Ash removed an inner layer of shielding.

"Here, put this down right there."

"Yes sir." XJ 17 said, taking the piece of machinery and placing it deliberately on top of

the sand. Ash poked around for a minute, before removing another piece and handing it to the

droid.

It wasn't long before Ash had several pieces laying in various places in close proximity

to the vaporator. But nothing seemed to work.

"How's it coming?" Accuma asked driving up with a thermos. Ash just looked at him; a

look that explained everything. Accuma couldn't help but laugh.

"Master Accuma." The droid said in a desperate tone.

"Yes, Eksjay, you can go have your bath now." Accuma said climbing out of his speeder

and leaning on it.

"Oh, thank you, Master." XJ's tone brightened, and she walked off toward the garage

with a purpose.

"I must spend three quarters of my earnings on oil baths for that damned droid." Accuma

said watching her leave. "She's so paranoid of getting a bug stuck in a joint or something."

Ash jerked his head around as if what Accuma said struck on something.

"You said you checked the levels of everything. Does that include the coolant?" Ash

asked.

"Yeah, the reading was full."

"The reading. So, you never actually looked to see for yourself?"

"Why should I? It's all right there." Accuma said motioning to the diagnostic readout

screen.

Ash spin flipped down and landed on his feet as if he merely had stood from a chair.

"But then again, neither did I." He opened up a panel, pulled out a box and opened the top. "Ah

ha!"

"What?" Accuma asked.

"Here's your problem. You need to refill your coolant."

"What?" Accuma exclaimed. "If it's empty, why is it reading full?"

Ash reached in and dislodged a dead bug. "This was stuck between the valve, and the

sensor. According to the sensor, there was something here. That something turned out to be a

bug."

"Oh brother." Accuma said throwing his hands in the air. "And I would have paid good

credits for someone to come out here and tell me that."

"Speaking of payment." Ash commented, and held his hand out for the thermos.

Accuma tossed it too him and he uncorked and drank a good portion of it immediately.

"So, you mentioned the pod races." Accuma said while Ash drank. "Do you have a

favorite you like to bet on?"

"Not really." Ash said bringing the thermos back down with a satisfying sigh. "I usually

go with who I feel will do the best."

"Do you win much?"

"I win enough to keep me coming back." Ash said noncommittally. "I think the fact that

I'm really sensitive to the force helps me a lot."

"If you're so strong in this force, why don't you apply for the Jedi academy?"

"Believe me, that's my ultimate goal. But I can't just up and leave my family and the rest

of the company. They need me."

"Better you than me."

"What do you mean?"

"Why would you want to curse yourself to that life?" Accuma asked.

"I'm not a Jedi yet." Ash said.

"Why would you want to be one at all?" Accuma asked bothered with the topic of

conversation.

"To help people."

"You don't need to be a blasted Jedi to help people." Accuma retorted.

"You don't like the Jedi, do you?" Ash said.

"They're not high on my 'to befriend' list."

"Does that mean I'm not welcome here?" Ash asked, taking another drink.

"You're not a Jedi, you said so yourself."

"I'm going to get to the Jedi academy if it's the last thing I do."

"Come on, now. Don't tarnish the rapport you have going with me." Accuma said.

"Well, if it helps, I'm a closet compulsive gambler."

Accuma chuckled looking over at the setting suns. "It's getting late, do you have a place

to stay?"

"I usually stay on my ship."

"It would figure." Accuma said, frowning at the thought of another trip into town and

back just to get Ash to his ship. "I have a guest room. Why don't you stay here, and tomorrow

I'll take you to the pod races."

"You're only saying that because you're going to pay attention to my bets." Ash said

smirking.

"Hey, I'm a struggling moisture farmer. I need the money worse than some want-to- be

Jedi who's plotting to run off on his family."

"Yeah, I'd say you were struggling." Ash said looking around at the sparse farm. "All

right. I just have to replace the few pieces I removed from this thing. Then I'll be set. But don't

turn it on until you refill the coolant, and found the leak where all your coolant drained from in

the first place."

"O.K. I'll do that tomorrow."

"Before or after the race?"

"Hey, if I'm going to make some money tomorrow, why not have a day off?"

"Uh huh." Ash said wryly. "And so you're going to follow my lead, and what do I get

for it?"

"I have an old glowlamp of some sort. It doesn't seem to work, but you can have it."

"Oh, gee thanks. I win you hundreds of credits, and all I get for it is a broken glowlamp."

"I haven't won anything yet." Accuma said with a wry smile. Ash turned around and

began replacing the pieces.

"What's for supper?" Ash asked listening to his own stomach rumble.

"You want everything, don't you?" Accuma said while taking mental inventory of his

kitchen. Ash didn't reply, he just smirked as he ratcheted a bolt down. "Well, I guess we could

have Bantha strips marinated in wine and imported Corellian potatoes."

"That's quite an expensive supper."

"Well, it's something I've been saving for a rainy day."

"Been saving it long?" Ash asked chuckling. Accuma laughed along with him, and they

head back to Accuma's house for supper.

The supper was good, passable actually. But for two young bachelors, it was just fine.

The Bantha strips were just how Ash liked them, cooked, and the Corellian vegetables were

better than he ever had here on Tattooine.

After supper, Accuma showed Ash the guestroom; it was decorated just as sparsely as the

rest of the farm. Just a simple bed, and a set of shelves for clothing or what ever the occupant

wanted to leave there.

"How long have you been farming here?" Ash asked noting the decorations, or lack there

of.

"Two years." Accuma answered. "I know, I need to do some decorating, but first I need

to earn some extra money. Then I can worry about décor."

"Well, after tomorrow, you just may want to change professions." Ash said with a false

grin. Accuma shook his head.

"If you're suggesting ice mining, forget it. I'd rather roast than freeze."

"Well, you can always put more clothing on." Ash countered. "It's hard to add to your

wardrobe to beat the heat. Besides, there are already too many people mining ice, if you joined

me, you would cut my percentage of the profits."

"Yeah, but if you place a few good bets, you wouldn't have to worry about that."

Accuma rebutted.

"I'm not betting so I can retire early." Ash found himself coming to his own defense yet

again. "In fact, if my plan does work, I'll probably be working harder, and longer, and die a very

old and very poor man.

"Uh huh." Accuma said unconvinced, heading to his own bedroom. "Well, I'll see you

tomorrow."

"Good night." Ash said sitting on the bed. "I don't suppose you have an air cooling

system?"

"Good night, Ash." Accuma called back walking into his bedroom. He sat in his favorite

chair and picked up a book he'd been trying to find the time to read.

"That would be the first thing I'd invest in." Ash said, more to himself than actually

trying to make his voice heard.

"Go sleep in your ice." Accuma said to himself as he looked at his book. It wasn't long,

however, until Accuma couldn't seem to concentrate, and realize he had just read the same line

three times. So he lowered the book, and looked up through the skylight in his room at the few

stars he could see from his vantagepoint.

"What the hell am I doing here?" He asked himself. He sat there for a few minutes

longer before deciding to go to sleep; he wasn't getting any reading done anyway.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day proved to be just as hot, dry, and unpleasant as the previous thousand years had  
been. Ash and Accuma headed out in the speeder to Mos Espa for the pod racing. This time, Accuma  
had the time to put the ragged Bantha hide roof up to keep the sun from baking them.  
The pod-racing stadium was packed, as usual, and there were several weequay dressed in bright  
blue directing the speeders and other personal transports to various parking spots. Accuma had to park  
pretty far away from the stadium, and they wound up catching a repulsor trolley as it ambles by on it's  
way toward the stadium.  
"This trolley doesn't go very fast." Accuma commented as they past a pedestrian who could  
probably keep up with them just buy walking a little faster.  
"You could walk." Ash said, motioning to the stadium, nearly a kilometer away.  
"I like this trolley." Accuma said with a fake smile.  
When they got close enough, the driver, a Deveronian, halfheartedly shouted: "All off!" Before  
turning his repulsor trolley around and heading back out to the parking lot.  
It wasn't hard to pick out Ash's betting partner, Reezo. A being that brokered bets for a living  
doesn't try to make himself invisible; at least not when there are no authorities around.  
"There he is." Ash said pointing into the crowd. At first Accuma was about to ask how Ash could  
find anybody in this large mass of people, but upon seeing where Ash is pointing, realized he didn't need  
to ask.  
A green skinned humanoid with short points engulfing his head where hair should be, as is typical  
of a Rodian was where Ash was pointing. But what set this one out from the rest of the crowd is his  
manner of dress, and his companion.  
The Roidian was wearing a bright red shirt with a bantha hide vest, and more jewelry than most  
Royalty. Most people in this situation would be skittish about wearing anything even resembling wealth,  
but this Rodian was sure his companion, a gigantic blue skinned, four-armed monstrosity, standing well  
over two meters, would keep him safe, and everyone at bay.  
"It looks like pod racing isn't everything your friend is in to." Accuma said.  
"Oh? Why do you say that?"  
"Come on. The owner of that being would be a fool if he didn't put him in the gladiator pits, and  
you know it."  
"Well, you're right about Cjezz being a slave, and a gladiator, but Reezo doesn't own him. Cjezz  
is on loan out. His owner let's Reezo use him as a body guard for a small percentage of Reezo's  
winnings. But, only on days when Cjezz isn't scheduled to fight."  
"What is he?" Accuma asked of the blue skinned gladiator. "I've never seen anything like him  
before."  
"I don't really know what his species is called. He doesn't know either. He says he's a solitary  
creature."  
"The tone in your voice says that you seem to know different." Accuma said.  
"I, uh, crash-landed on a planet several years back. I had no clue where the planet was, it wasn't  
on any of my charts. So, I took the coordinates and plugged them into the computer. Nothing, no record  
of those coordinates. So, I made an educated guess that I was near the outskirts of wild space, out beyond  
the outer rim."  
"Yeah." Accuma said to show he was listening.  
"Well, I think I was guided there by the force, because among several indigenous creatures, I also  
found the old republic medium bulk freight cruiser I'm flying now. I just had to make a few adjustments,  
and take the hyperdrive engine out of my ship, and put it in that one."  
"Ash." Accuma cut him off. "You're babbling."  
"Well, while I was there, I saw three species in particular, one was a 6-legged turtle looking thing,  
whose shell was impervious to everything except water. That's where my cane came from."  
"Your cane is indestructible, interesting." Accuma said.  
"Yup. With a few surprises." Ash said. "There's also another species that looks like a cross  
between a snake and a 6-legged cat. I never wanted to mess with them. And the last species were beings  
that looked exactly like Cjezz."  
"So Cjezz is from this unknown planet?" Accuma summed up.  
"Yeah, but I'm not sure if I should tell him."  
"Why shouldn't you tell him?" Accuma asked.  
"Because he's a slave, and if he finds out he's not alone, he'll probably try to escape, and Valla  
the Hutt will have him hunted down and, more than likely, killed."  
"Ah." Accuma said fully understanding the dilemma, especially when Valla the Hutt's name was  
mentioned. "Well, I'm sure there will come a time when you can tell him."  
"Is that a feeling you have?"  
"Something like that, yeah." Accuma answered thoughtfully.  
While they were still a little ways off, the gigantic blue creature, Cjezz, turned his head and locked  
eyes with Accuma for a moment. He then scowled and forced himself to look away.

"Reezo, what's going on?" Ash said in greeting, sidling up to him, as three Dugs and a  
Gamorrean left.  
"Uh oh, I think it's time to close up shop. Ash is here to clean me out." Reezo said in his native  
tongue.  
"Nah, I'm not that bad. Besides, I brought company."  
"Not that bad?" The Rodian exclaimed. "I lose money betting with you."  
"Reezo, the money you lose betting with me is nothing compared to the money you loose hiring  
Cjezz as your body guard."  
Cjezz looked down at the conversation when he heard his name.  
"How's it going, Cjezz?" Ash asked.  
"It's better than next week will be." Cjezz stated plainly.  
"Why is that?"  
"Because I'm to fight three times next week, and if I live through that, I'll be looking forward to  
fighting in the Stellar Rumble again."  
"Again?" Accuma couldn't help but say out loud, almost shocked.  
The Stellar Rumble was the largest event the underworld had to offer for fans of gladiators.  
Twenty of the top gladiators would fight a no holds barred brawl against each other. Where the best of  
the best of the gladiators would fight until there was only one standing, presumably, and more often than  
not, the only one still living.  
"He's already won two." Ash said showing off his friend, because he knew Cjezz wouldn't do it  
for himself. "If he wins three more, he will be granted his freedom."  
Though he wouldn't say anything, Cjezz didn't try to keep Ash from saying anything.  
"It won't matter, what am I supposed to do? I can't pilot anything." Cjezz said.  
"That's easy. You could mine ice with me." Ash said. Cjezz just looked away hiding a smirk.  
"What are the odds, Reezo?" Ash asked getting down to business.  
"The best odds I can offer you are 10 to 1, but that's a Gungan. He's getting 7 to 1 for simply  
crossing the finish line."  
"What else?"  
"A Dug. He's the favorite to win. And a Gran who's 5 to 1 to win."  
"I'll take it." Ash said pulling out a pouch from inside his forest green poncho.  
"Take which?"  
"I'll put uh..." Ash began, clearly having a mental argument over how much he should bet.  
"Three, no five. Five hundred on the Gran, and an even thousand on the Gungan."  
"To win or simply to finish?" Reezo asked. Ash paused a moment before answering.  
"One thousand on the Gungan to finish; Five hundred on the Gran to win."  
"Nothing on the Dug?" Reezo asked, not really surprised. It wasn't that uncommon for Ash to  
bet on the longest shot there was, and win.  
"Why? He's not that profitable, his odds aren't good enough for me." Ash said smiling and  
handing over 1500 Drugats. Reezo accepted them and looked to Accuma.  
"Will your friend be betting?"  
"Yeah, why not." Accuma said pulling out his own pouch. "Seven to one, for the Gungan to  
finish?"  
"He's not having the best of seasons." The Roidian confided.  
"Yeah, but this is a new race." Ash put in. Accuma looked from Reezo to a nodding Ash.  
"Well, I guess I'll put 150 down on the, uh, Gungan to finish." Accuma almost felt foolish even  
mentioning the Gungan, let alone actually betting on him.  
"Following Ash's lead, huh?"  
"Hey, why not?" Accuma said, and then smirked as he added. "Besides, whatever I lose, Ash is  
going to repay with ice."  
"Don't count on it." Reezo said leaning towards him as if Ash wasn't supposed to hear them.  
"I heard that." Ash said. "Come on, we better find a good seat."  
"I'll see you after the race." Reezo said.  
"If he loses money betting with you, why is he so happy to see you all the time?" Accuma asked  
falling in step with Ash.  
"He doesn't lose money with me. He knows who ever I bet on is going to win, and waits until he  
sees me before making his own bets."  
"You know you could charge him for that little service."  
"Nah," Ash said with a wry smile. "I don't need that many glowlamps."  
They were about to enter the door, leading to the stadium, when a Gamorrean stepped in their  
way. The Gamorrian crossed his arms over his vibro axe with a menacing grunt, and slobber dripping  
from his snout.  
"Can I help you?" Ash asked.  
"Maybe I can help you." Answered a deep voice from below Ash's right elbow. Ash looked over  
and down to a Dug standing on there, flanked by two others. "I couldn't help but over hear you placing

your bets. And I was wondering if you did not bet for the dug only because the odds were too small."  
Accuma looked around, making sure no one was going to jump them from behind. The  
Gamorrean subconsciously licked his nose and continued to glare, sloberingly at Accuma.  
"He's a relative of yours?" Ash asked.  
"He's my brother." Was the Dug's answer.  
"With out trying to insult him, or Dugs in general, I didn't bet on him because I don't believe he'll  
finish the race."  
"What would make you believe something like that?" The Dug asked. "He's been a favorite to  
win since mid season! Even Valla the Hutt has been betting on him quite regularly."  
Ash regarded the three of them and touched the force around them. There was an odd mixture of  
emotions surrounding the one to his left.  
"What are you suggesting?" Ash asked.  
"If it's odds that you are after, I can give you the odds."  
"What kind of odds are we talking here?"  
"Three to one. That's better than Reezo can or even will give you."  
"To win? HA!" Ash exclaimed. "Seven to one."  
"Four to one is the best I can do." The Dug said smirking.  
"Six to one." Ash said. "Or my friend and I take our money elsewhere."  
The Dug studied the two humans for a moment before revealing the odds he was hoping to get  
initially.  
"Five to one." He said, adding: "We're talking serious credits here, none of this one and two  
hundred podoo."  
"Good, I'm getting bored with small time stuff." Ash said gesturing with his hands.  
Three set of Dug eyes went wide with anticipation, but the emotions swirling around the Dug to  
his left got more complex and swirled faster.  
"How much do you have to bet?" The Dug asked.  
"How much do you have to lose?" Ash countered, gesturing slightly.  
"Five thousand Drugats." Was the automatic answer.  
"So, if your brother crosses the finish line first, we give you one thousand drugats, but if he  
doesn't, you give us five thousand drugats?" Ash asked.  
"Yes."  
"But what if your brother doesn't cross the finish line at all?" Ash asked.  
"Are you trying to threaten my brother?" The Dug asked.  
"No, I wouldn't do that. I'm here to gamble and watch a pod race; nothing else." Ash said. "But  
this is a pod race; pod races can be very dangerous."  
"If my brother does not cross the finish line, we will double your winnings."  
"Brother, isn't that a little much?" The emotional Dug asked quietly.  
"I know what I am doing." The brother replied.  
"Deal." Ash said.  
"Let's see your money." The Dug said.  
"You don't need to see our money." Ash said casually gesturing.  
"We don't need to see your money." The dug repeated.  
"We need a place to sit." Ash asked, gesturing again.  
"You will join us in our private booth?" The Dug asked.  
"Thank you, we would be honored." Ash answered.  
"This way please." The dug said, and the Gamorrean fell in step behind them, as if to corral them  
all toward the private booth.  
The emotional dug, looked hesitant for a moment before excusing himself.  
"I'll be there before the race starts, don't worry." He said before hurrying off and disappearing  
behind a different door. The two remaining Dugs looked at each other before turning and walking in the  
other direction, towards their private booth.  
"What in the hell did you get me into?" Accuma asked.  
"Relax. You said you were going to follow my lead."  
"I don't have 500 drugats."  
"You'll have 5000 when the race is over." Ash said.  
"Next time you do anything that has anything to do with me, you let me make up my own mind."  
Accuma said.  
As they walked down the carved stone corridor towards the Dug's private booth, Ash couldn't  
help but pick up a twinge in the force. It seemed that the two other Dugs were discussing something and  
were suddenly a little hesitant about the imminent race.  
They came to a stop just outside of a nondescript door, and gestured for the two humans to enter  
first. Accuma quickly stepped inside the booth, away from the Gamorrean. Not that he was afraid of the  
Gamorrean, he just didn't want to get any slobber on him.  
A Tei'lik female greeted them as they sat.

"Good day to you." She said in a musical voice. "Would any of you care for something to drink?  
Compliments of the Mighty Valla."  
"I would like some of the local sweet water." Ash said.  
"Certainly, sir."  
"Kryate Dragon Ale." Accuma said. The two Dugs ordered their drinks, and the Twi'lik turned to  
the bar to prepare their drinks.  
A few moments later, the third Dug returned, his face flush and obviously anxious about  
something. When the Twi'lik asked him what he wanted to drink, his answer was a hushed: "The  
strongest thing you got, and lots of it!"  
Ash finally sat to enjoy the race, and listen to the announcer finish introducing the racers and the  
mighty Valla the Hutt.  
Valla appeared on a large dais over looking the starting line and the three racers. Thunderous  
applause echoed from the packed stadium. Playing to the crowd, Valla raised his arms and bellowed.  
"Welcome one and all!"  
The applause seemed to redouble them selves in volume and fortitude at that simple greeting.  
"Let's have an exciting race!" He continued, and Ash would have sworn that some of the beings  
should have gone horse from shouting so much, and so loudly, but the open stadium seems to only get  
louder.  
"Racers, start your engines!"  
Immediately the three racers climbed into their pods and fired up their twin turbine engines.  
Drummers around the stadium begin a low rumbling drum roll. Valla picked up a large mallet and looked  
the crowd over.  
Everyone knew what was next, and they almost couldn't contain their excitement. Valla didn't  
keep them waiting long. Using excellent showmanship, Valla re-grabbed and readjusted the large mallet  
with both hands and swung it in a large circle before bringing it forward slowly until it almost touched the  
large gong. The crowd seemed transfixed by his movements and their cheering followed his movements.  
He reared back to one side and, with a mighty grunt, nearly knocked the large gong off its brace as  
he gave it one great slam to signal the start of the race.


	4. Chapter 4

Before the resounding bong of the gong had a chance to echo back to Valla's Dais, the three racers  
were gone. Ash, Accuma, and the three Dugs directed their attention to the view screen on one wall ofthe Dug's private booth.  
The Dug took an early lead, and used the second lap to firm up his lead. But, about half way  
through the last lap, the right turbine started smoking, and suddenly cut out all together as the left one  
began smoking.  
Enraged beyond words, the Dug tried to restart the engines. Nothing happened, and his pod racer  
slowed to a crawl, and then a complete stop.  
Two of the Dugs began yelling and jumping around shouting shocked expletives at anyone who  
would listen. The third one just took a deep breath and hung his head.  
Swearing violently, the pilot Dug jumped out of his pod and opened a panel on the closest turbine,  
hoping to find what was wrong and fix it quickly.  
But before he could do too much, the Gran flew by him, followed closely and recklessly by the  
Gungan, in their mad dash for the suddenly vacant first place.  
Flying neck and neck the Gran and Gungan were desperately vying for first place by any means.  
They started by ramming each other, and playing chicken with obstacles in their path, seeing who would  
be the one to slow down or swerve to avoid the obstacles.  
The finish line in sight, the Gran, desperate to win tried to force his throttle lever back just a little  
further than the metal casing would allow. He wasn't sure if it would work, but there was no way he was  
going to lose to a Gungan!  
At the last second the Gungan lost his nerve and powered his pod down, causing the Gran to shoot  
ahead of him, and take the victory. But taking the finishing line's 90 degree turn at full throttle was way  
beyond anyone's piloting skills. All Three of the gran's eyes widened at the realization of his mistake.  
He slammed the throttle forward and spun the steering bar to the left as hard and fast as he could, while  
closing his eyes and gritting his teeth as hard as he could.  
He went into the turn wide and cut sharp, which was good, and at first it looked as if he might  
actually make it through the turn. But the stadium wasn't wide enough to compensate for inertia.  
Gritting his teeth so hard, they nearly popped out of his jaw, he forced the steering bar to the left,

but his right turbine engine scraped against the wall. And the pod itself was inching closer to the side-  
wall too.

The Gran's middle eye opened a little and eyed the wall before slamming shut, and the Gran  
redoubled his efforts to both slow the machine down, and turn it away from the wall.  
If the wall was smooth, there probably wouldn't have been too much of a problem with the right  
turbine scraping along it for a short distance. But it wasn't.  
About fifty feet down the wall, a single rock, jutting out a little too far caught the edge of the  
turbine engine, and flipped it backwards, out of the electromagnetic pull the twin turbines created.  
The turbine caught another piece of the wall and sun again, and again, and before anyone could  
blink, the turbine was rolling down the wall, twisting the connecting hose until it snapped, and the turbine  
flew off to who knows where.  
The crunch of the turbine colliding with the rock, caused the Gran to open his eyes as a reflex.  
And that single reflex was the only thing that kept the Gran alive. When the right turbine was freed from  
the electromagnetic pull, it immediately shot straight back across the wall, and right over the pod. The  
Gran only had enough time to throw himself to the left as the turbine flew close enough to give him a  
shave.  
The remaining turbine, once freed from the electromagnetic pull, shot off in the opposite direction,  
pulling the pod, racer and all, with it. The turbine slammed into a vending cart, causing both to explode  
in an awe-inspiring display of pyrotechnics, and sending the pod into a flat spin, hurling down the racing  
corridor of the stadium. It finally crashed into the Gran's own caravan, sending everything tumbling  
down the thoroughfare; pieces flying off in every direction.  
There was dead silence for about two seconds as the viewers watched the fantastic display of sheer  
calamitous destruction. But as soon as the Gran's destroyed caravan slid to a rest nearly a half a  
kilometer from the starting line, a cacophony of celebrations erupted from everywhere. Even people who  
didn't bet on the Gran were yelling and celebrating such a phenomenal victory over, not just the Gungan,  
but also the Dug.  
Ash looked at Accuma, beaming. Accuma was smiling as well, but he was too shocked to do  
much else.  
"Well." Ash said. "It seems we have won. We need to get going, things to do; I'm sure you  
understand."  
"NO!" The First Dug bellowed, and the Gamorrean blocked the door again, unconsciously licking  
his snout. "There's something not right about that! You knew somehow! And I think I know how."  
"How's that?" Ash asked.  
"You knew my brother was not going to finish because you had something to do with it!"  
"Untrue and unfounded accusations." Ash said waving them away. "Besides, when would I have

had access to the pod?"  
As Ash was talking he offered his hand toward the third Dug; the quiet one. He was just sitting in  
his chair with his head in his hands. The first Dug scrutinized his brother for a moment before changing  
the subject.  
"We never saw your money, if you don't have the money, there is no bet!"  
"Would you like to take this before the mighty Valla?" Ash asked with a bothered sigh. He had  
no intention of showing where he kept his money, or how much he had on him. That sort of information  
could be used to his disadvantage.  
"Yes, I would." Was the Dug's menacing reply. At the doorway, the Gamorrean echoed the  
menace with a slobbery grunt.  
Ash turned to the female twi'lik  
"We are having a gambling dispute, and would like to have it settled." He said simply.  
"Certainly." She answered happily, and picked up a comlink. She spoke into it briefly and then  
happily informed Ash that a magistrate of Valla was on his way.  
"A magistrate?" Ash said disappointed. "I was hoping to see the great Valla, himself."  
"I'm sorry sir," She answered pleasantly. "But the sheer number of gambling disputes that must  
be decided upon makes it nearly impossible for Valla to see everyone in a timely fashion."  
She finished talking as a Quarren stepped into the booth.  
"What seems to be the..." He began, but paused as a large, slobbery, Gamorrean blocked his  
path. "...Problem."  
"Gzarrh." One Dug said. "Let him in."  
The Quarren gave the Gamorrean what would pass as in indignant look before continuing into the  
booth. A small black droid hovered just over the Quarren's right shoulder.  
"What is the dispute about?" The Quarren asked.  
"He knew something was going to happen to my brother's pod!" The first Dug began  
animatedly. "AND, he never showed me his money. If he doesn't have the money, there can be no bet."  
The Quarren, listening quietly shifted his attention to Ash, silently signaling Ash's turn to speak.  
"We made a perfectly legal bet, and now he doesn't want to pay up. He thinks I had something to  
do with his pod breaking down, but that's impossible, because I was conducting other business  
yesterday."  
"What were the terms of your bet?" The Quarren asked Ash.  
"Five to one, on a thousand Drugats. But it would become ten to one if the Dug didn't cross the  
finish line."  
"Five to one?" The Quarren asked.  
"They were his odds." Ash said innocently pointing to the Dug.  
"Is this true?" The Quarren asked shifting his attention to the Irate Dug.  
"Yes." The Dug had to admit. "But he knew my brother was not going to cross the finish line!  
How could he have known that, unless he was in on it?"  
"Yesterday, you were conducting business? Why kind of business, and who were you with?"  
"Are you going to call him to be a witness to my whereabouts yesterday?" Ash asked.  
"Tell me his name, please."  
"Valla the Hutt." Ash said, to the shocked gasps of the Dugs. "I am an Ice Miner. I was selling  
Ice, and delivering it to all of his greatness's businesses."  
"And what of your quiet friend?" The Quarren asked.  
"I run a moisture farm out side of Mos Ooso." Accuma said. "One of my vaporators is on the  
fritz. I was working on that all day."  
With out another word, the Quarren walked over to the viewing screen and pressed a few buttons.  
Almost instantly the hologram of a large slug like creature with arms and facial features appeared.  
"Yes, what is it?" Valla's booming deep voice resounded, even through the speakers.  
"Your greatness," The Quarren began. "There is a gambling dispute here which can be settled  
quickly. One of the beings, a human, says he was working for you all day yesterday. Is this true?"  
"Who is it?"  
"With great humility." Ash said, stepping forward and bowing slightly.  
"Ash, I did not know you were a betting man!" Valla said, slightly surprised and delighted.  
"Yes, your highness. It's a hobby."  
"The next time you are delivering ice to me we shall have to talk more about this." Valla said to  
Ash before directing his attention to the Quarren. "Ash was delivering Ice to all of my places of business  
yesterday. A task which takes nearly all day."  
"Thank you for your time, oh great one." The Quarren said with a bow as Valla turned the view  
screen off.  
"He did not do anything to your pod racer." The Quarren said, directing his attention to the  
fuming Dugs. "And I don't believe his companion would have had time to travel all the way from Mos  
Ooso to sabotage your pod." He redirected his attention back to the Humans. "As for not having any  
money: did Valla pay you?"

"Yes. When I had completed all of my deliveries."  
"I trust he paid you well."  
"My usual fee is 10,000 Drugats for a one month supply of ice." Ash said.  
"But you only bet 1000?"  
"If I were to lose, I wanted to make sure I had enough to pay my debt as well as get myself home."  
"Very well then." The Quarren said taking a slow deep breath. "10,000 Drugats to the Humans,  
to be paid upon demand."  
The Quarren's judgment sent two of the three dugs into a frenzy of swears and threats. Until the  
third Dug, the quiet one, put a hand on his brother's shoulder and whispered something into his ear.  
"What did you say?" The first Dug asked quietly, his mouth going dry.  
"Magistrate." Ash called, to the back of the leaving Quarren. "I think there is another matter  
you're going to need to rule upon."  
"What is it?" The Magistrate asked.  
"I'm not sure, but something made these Dugs really quiet really fast." Ash said.  
The Quarren looked the three Dugs over and, recognizing the look on their faces asked:  
"You can't pay him, can you?"  
"No." One said, shamefully.  
"And you need your money now?" The Quarren asked Ash.  
"I'm scheduled to leave planet today."  
"Your friend can accept payment in your absence. You said yourself you have enough to travel to  
your home planet." The Quarren suggested.  
"There's one problem with that," Ash replied. "The Dug's undoubtedly made other bets, and they  
are also going to need to repair their pod as well as traveling expenses to the next race."  
The Quarren thought for a moment.  
"You made a legal bet, one that must be paid." The Quarren said. "If you cannot pay it, then  
ownership of the pod will have to take the place of Drugats."  
"What do you mean?" The first Dug demanded, shocked.  
"If you do not have 10,000 Drugats, the pod now belongs to these two men." The Quarren spelled  
it out. "You will have to negotiate a time and place to meet. But I warn you, if the Humans tell Valla you  
did not show up, Valla's men will hunt you down.  
"That is my Judgement, by the power vested in me by the Great and Mighty Valla the Hutt." The  
Quarren finished before taking his leave.  
"Well, looks like we're partners in podracing." Ash said to Accuma.  
"I'm a moisture farmer." Accuma deadpanned.  
"Yeah, and I'm an ice Miner." Ash said with a smirk. "And if my parents find out I own a pod  
racer, they'll skin me alive."  
"How do you know I'm not already going to?"  
"Because then you won't get your Drugats."  
"Is there anyway we can settle this, to both of our advantages?" The one Dug asked.  
"I think there might be." Ash said. "Allow me to consult with my partner; we'll get back to you  
before the day is over."  
"The day?" The Dug asked. "We're supposed to pack up and leave immediately. We need to be  
on Mechias 5 by the day after tomorrow!"  
"With a broken pod?" Ash asked. "I'm sorry, but my pod isn't going anywhere until I know it  
will run perfectly. Now, you haul the pod and the engines, and the hoses, and everything connected to it  
back to the hangar, and I'll be back later today to check it out. Don't worry, I doubt there's anything  
seriously wrong with it. Right now, we have other business to attend to."  
Ash turned to leave, but came face to torso with the slobbering Gamorrean. Getting a little  
annoyed, he turned back to the Dugs.  
"Get your guy out of my way, or the pod won't be the only thing you'll lose."  
The Dug called the Gamorrean's name and made a gesture. The Gamorrian moved two meters to  
the left and took the same stance with the same slobbery grunt. Ash and Accuma left the private booth, in  
search of Reezo to collect their winnings from him.  
"Ah there he is." Ash said identifying the tall muscular Cjezz before virtually anything.


	5. Chapter 5

The line leading up to Reezo took nearly an hour. But they were finally face to face with Reezo again. Cjezz almost looked like he was going to fall asleep.

"I think others are following your lead, Ash. We will need to be more discrete in the future." Reezo said factually.

Ash took the handful of Drugats, and, without even counting them, stashed them into a hidden pocket inside his poncho.

"Thank you Reezo, always a pleasure." Ash said with a slight salute with his walking stick.

Reezo, having trouble keeping what would pass for a smirk off of his snout, handed a smaller, but no less impressive, sum of Drugats to Accuma. Accuma quickly counted the money to ensure it was all there. Something he learned from his father.

"Maybe next time I'll refuse to even broker your bets, Ash." Reezo said, not the slightest bit offended at Accuma's actions.

"I find it hard to believe that you haven't figured out a way to make money off of me some how." Ash said with a satisfied look.

"If I told you my secrets, you would no longer come to me." Reezo said, with as much of a grin as his snout will allow.

"Take it easy, Cjezz. I'll see you next time." Ash said to the gigantic four-armed sentient beast standing next to Reezo.

"Why don't you to bet on me?" Cjezz asked. Ash's face looked pained a little before answering.

"You know I don't believe in what Valla makes you do."

"You may not believe in it, my friend, but does that mean you can't profit by it?"

"I don't know." Ash said, unconvinced. "I guess I always felt that betting on your fights would make your fighting partly my responsibility."

"Nah, my master would battle me regardless. I make him money. Why don't you let me make you some money too?"

With out wanting to insult his friend, Ash looked to Reezo who already knew what the question was going to be.

"The best odds I can give you are 2 to 1 on his first fight, and 3 to 2 on the other two fights for the week."

Ash pulled out the wad of Drugats Reezo just gave him, counted out 500 to keep for himself, and handed the rest, 9,000 Drugats, back to Reezo.

"Someday, my friend," Ash said. "I will see you a free being."

"And will you be betting?" Reezo asked Accuma.

"I'd like to, but I have repairs on my farm I have to make." Accuma answered.

"You shouldn't walk away from this." Ash said.

"Why do you care?" Accuma asked Ash.

"It just seems rather foolish to walk away from money that's staring you right in the face." Ash said. "Look, you started the day with what, 150? Now you have more than 6 fangs"

"I don't have 6 fangs yet, I only have one right now. And I know what I'm going to use the money for, too."

"Reezo, how long are you going to be here?" Ash asked.

"Look, I'm not a gambler." Accuma said. "I made some money, yes. But continuing to gamble just doesn't interest me."

"No, just listen. We'll go and do our business, and come back in a couple of hours. Keep a fang for yourself, and give him Five. I guarantee that next week you'll have at least fifty."

"Fifty thousand?" Accuma asked, "in one week?"

"Seven days; Fifty Thousand drugats." Ash said.

"Sixty-two thousand, Five hundred to be exact." Reezo said. "If Cjezz wins all three fights."

Accuma's eyes flicked between Ash and Reezo, with one quick glance to Cjezz.

"You won't be disappointed, Accuma." Ash said, and grabbed onto Accuma's shoulder pulling him towards a slow moving repulsor trolley. "I hate to cut this short, Reezo, but I think this is the last repulsor trolley."

"How long will I have to wait?" Reezo called after him.

"It'll be faster if we can borrow a sky hopper." Ash said, jumping onto the trolley.

"Better make it fast." Reezo said.

"All right." Ash said jumping back off the trolley and looking back at Accuma. "Come on."

"But my speeder."

"No one's going to steal that thing. Besides, man: Sixty-two and a half Fangs!"

Accuma rolled his eyes and followed Ash.

"It's parked in docking bay 4. Not a scratch on her, or I'm charging you for a new paint job."

"Not a scratch, Reezo. You have my word."

The two ran to docking bay 4 and climbed into the sandblasted, used-to-be-silver, late model T-27 Sky Hopper.

"Having fun yet?" Ash said, jumping into the pilot's seat.

"No." Accuma said. "I have no idea why I'm letting myself be dragged into this."

"What, you're making a little extra money." Ash said, starting the sky hopper and lifting off, but hovered in the air for a minute.

"First thing's first." Ash said, and adjusted the air coolant system: "Oh yeah, that's perfect."

"Since meeting you, yesterday: I've been involved in not one, but two brawls; got mixed up with gambling; betting money I don't yet have on a fighter who could die in his first fight; became the owner of a pod racer; and now I'm leaving behind my speeder to go off, doing who knows what with a wanna-be Jedi."

"It's not all bad."

"Not all bad?"

"Yeah, have I steered you wrong yet?"

"WHAT?"

"Think about it, what have I said to you that didn't happen?"

"Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of." Accuma said.

"What, me being right?"

"No, the one time when you're wrong!" Accuma said. Ash just smirked. "Listen, the only reason I'm still here is that I'm waiting to see how you figure out how you are going to get me 5000 drugats."

"Me?" Ash asked.

"It was your idea. You got me into this mess. And Now I'm owed 5 fangs."

"Yes, but now we own a racing pod."

"I didn't come to tattooine to start a career as a pod racer." Accuma said, losing his patience.

"I know." Ash admitted. "Neither did I. I'm trying to make the best of this situation. Any ideas?"

"It's an unnecessary situation." Accuma said. "And seeing as how it was your idea that got me into it, it'll be your idea that gets me out."

"Look, I'm sorry, I just had this feeling, and on the spur of the moment just went with it."

"Now how are we supposed to get that pod to Mechias 5 in two days? Don't you have more ice to deliver?"

"No, the rest is extra. I'll just contact my parents and tell them I've run into a slight problem with the hyperdrive, and won't be home for a few days."

"How much extra?" Accuma asked.

"Not five fangs' worth." Ash said, killing that idea immediately.

"Well, lying to your parents might work now, but it will come back to bite you in the ass sooner or later. Besides how many more races are there this season?" Accuma asked.

"You seem to know more about this than you're letting on." Ash said, watching the bleak dunes fly under the hopper.

"No, just more than you, apparently." Accuma answered. "See, this is one reason I don't like this force you seem to think is all great. It gives you feelings, and you act on them with out forethought of consequences. Now, two guys, with prior obligations have to care for, and transport a pod all over the galaxy. Not to mention the Dugs that will accompany the machine. Have you ever had dealings with Dugs?"

"No we don't." Ash rebutted. "All we need is 10 fangs. That's all we want. I'm quite sure Valla would jump at the chance to own a racing pod for so cheap. Then we let the dugs deal directly with Valla, and we walk away with credits in hand."

Accuma opened his mouth with a retort, but stopped and mulled it over for a minute.

"That's a good idea." Accuma said slowly. "That's a damn good idea. How soon can that happen?"

"Hopefully we can be concluded before supper. First thing I have to do is contact Valla. Once I do that, I'm sure he'll see me as soon as he possibly can. And then we can sell it to him, and get my ship, and then I have to find what's wrong with the pod, and then meet up with Valla.-"

"Ash, you're rambling." Accuma said. "You said we'd would be back to give Reezo money today."

"Yes, and we will be. But the money is on my ship, and this was the fastest way I could think of to get it here.

"I don't get it."

"Well, as a way of repaying you for everything I've put you though, I figured winning more drugats in one week than most of these farmers see in years would be a good start."

"That's if your friend wins."

"You've never seen him fight." Ash said "Cjezz is money. If he's fighting, bet the house on him."

"Just a few minutes ago, you didn't want to bet on him."

"I still don't." Ash said. "But I just have this feeling that I'm going to need a great deal of money very soon."

"Yeah, well, I have a feeling that I'm going to be entitled to a great deal of money very soon."

"I'm hungry." Ash said after a moment.

"Yeah well, tonight, dinner is on you." Accuma said. "But not until we conclude our business."

"Where do you want to eat?"

"At my home." Accuma answers. "I don't like leaving the farm for that long."

"I know what you mean." Ash says. "What with the sand people, and all those Jawas roaming around, you never know when they'll try to take something."

"Yeah, like coolant." Accuma said, suddenly realizing where the coolant may have gone. "There was a Jawa convoy that rolled by my place about a week ago. And shortly after that is when my vaporator started acting funny."

"Well there you go." Ash said. "All you need to do is get a security droid."

"Or a blaster."

"That will work too." Ash said. "I'm surprised you don't have one already."

"Yeah, me too." Accuma said. "It seems that everywhere I go, trouble follows me."

"The whole galaxy is one big trouble spot. What with the yuzhan Vong threatening to annihilate everyone and everything that isn't them."

"Yeah, it's too bad the Empire isn't still around. I'm sure the Moffs would know how to handle this threat better than that squabbling new republic." Accuma said.

"Wasn't it the Moffs who lost to that same group of squabbling beings?" Ash asked. "But they were called a 'rebellion'."

"That rebellion may have damned themselves with their short sightedness."

"What do you mean?"

"The Empire was a structured form of government."

"If by 'structured' you mean 'tyrannical' I'll agree with you." Ash cut in.

"They had the answer to the Yuzhan Vong problem, twice. And that rebellion destroyed it, both times."

"What, the Death Star? I don't know if that would have helped or not." Ash said. "But I am not willing to make the trade to find out."

"Well, it doesn't really matter much to me." Accuma said. "I'm not part of either, and I don't plan to be."

Ash didn't agree with him or his view, but he let it go with the sight of Accuma's farm growing larger on the horizon.

"You appear to have a guest." Ash said.

Accuma's face hardened as he looked over to a ship that had landed near the entrance to his farm.

"I've got a bad feeling about this." Accuma said.

"I take it that's not your dad's ship." Ash said.

Ash set the skyhopper down just on the other side of the entrance, where the strange ship sat.

Four armed men and a trandoshan were standing around the access ramp of the ship.


	6. Chapter 6

"Ash, I'm sorry for getting you into this." Accuma began, but Ash waved it off.  
"Don't worry about it, man." Ash answered hitting the button to open the ramp. "I can handle  
myself." He added following Accuma down the ramp, nonchalantly twirling his walking stick.  
"I've told you already," Accuma called over to the trandoshan, "I'm not going anywhere, and I  
don't owe anyone any money."  
Accuma's proclamation was followed up by a hissing laughter from the trandoshan.  
"You really think I care about you?" The trandoshan hissed out. "It isss not you I'm after."  
"I have no idea where my father is, and I don't expect him here any time soon. So why don't you  
quit wasting my time and leave while you still can."  
"Your friend doesssn't need to be here." The trandoshan continued. "If he wishesss to live, I  
sssuggest you sssend him on hisss way."  
"Are you threatening to kill me?" Ash asked as if he didn't fully understand what was going on.  
"Trussst me, it isss a promissse."  
"Really?" Ash asked fully intrigued. He moved one foot behind him in a loose fighting stance.  
"Well. You've made me a promise, let's see you keep it."  
"Insssullant boy!" The trandoshan shouted pointing towards the two of them.  
Using that as their signal, the four men charged in with force pikes. They split up, and two went  
after Accuma while the other two ran headlong straight towards Ash.  
Accuma, weaponless yet fully ready for this fight; stepped forward into the two attackers.  
Ash realized the attack to be a pathetic rouse to keep them from seeing the real attack, and made  
quick work of his two opponents. He hit them hard enough and in exactly the right spot to knock the  
wind out of them, and leave them, gasping for breath on the sand before the trandoshan had an  
opportunity to use the blaster he just pulled off his back.  
The trandoshan pointed his blaster at Accuma, but before he could squeeze the trigger, Ash  
reached for it through the force. The trandoshan's eyes widened in shock when his specially modified  
Sure Shot z-9000 was suddenly gone, jerked out of his clawed hands.  
The resourceful trandoshan didn't let that slow him down, however. He reached behind him  
again, and pulled off a second blaster, this one he pointed at Ash and almost relished the squeeze of the  
trigger this time.  
But again, Ash was one step ahead of him, and everyone else too, as the blaster bolt got deflected  
harmlessly off the amber blade of Ash's ignited light saber.  
The Trandoshan hissed something in his native language that didn't sound very friendly, and  
began shooting continuously trying desperately to keep this apparent Jedi at bay long enough for him to  
retreat into his ship and leave.  
Accuma, deflected the head of a force pike as it was thrust at him, and spun out of the way, lifting  
his foot to kick the second attacker in the gut. Ash continued his spin and stomped his foot down on the  
shaft of the force pike, ripping it out of the man's hands. Accuma used the momentum of his spin to  
enhance a punch to the man's face, leaving him sprawled on the dessert with a flat nose.  
The second attacker didn't have it so lucky. Accuma rolled under a swipe from his opponent's  
force pike, and kicked out, tripping up the man. Before the attacker had a chance to recover from the trip,  
Accuma had the other force pike.  
Clearly, the other man hadn't counted on his quarry being armed, and stood with the force pike  
pointing at Accuma. Accuma didn't want the fight to go stale, Accuma swung the top of the pike in a  
hard arch, knocking his opponent's pike downward. Before the man could retaliate, Accuma spun the  
force pike around, knocking it completely out of his hands.  
Dumbstruck, the man's last vision was that of Accuma, spinning the force pick above his head,  
and bringing it down so the twirling blade was about neck level.  
The two men sent to attack Ash slowly regained their breath, and tried to stand up to keep  
attacking, but they never counted on Accuma, their real target, being such a good fighter. A mistake they  
realized a bit too late as Accuma tackled them from the side, knocking them both over again.  
Deflecting blaster bolts every which way, Ash was actually relieved when Accuma deflected the  
attack of the other two. Now he didn't have to worry about a rear attack, and could concentrate on where  
he wanted to send the blaster bolts he was deflecting.  
Most of them, Ash would send back at the ship, some up into the hatchway of the ship, and a few  
he sent back at the trandoshan's feet.  
The going was slow, and Ash could only move two steps at a time before having to pause to  
deflect another blaster bolt. But as soon as Ash was one step, and a spinning slash away from the end of  
the Trandoshan's life, he realized something didn't quite add up. It was almost as if the Trandoshan was  
baiting him.  
"Jedi Sssscum!" The Trandoshan hissed and pushed a button on a wristband.  
Idiot Ash chided himself. It would figure, he'd gotten too busy with fighting, and didn't realize he  
was stepping into a trap. What would it be? Several large guns popping out of the ship, all trained at  
different parts of his body? Maybe a ceribo-net, a mechanical net that would incapacitate him upon

contact, would spring out of some hidden hatch.  
Before he could do anything, a sudden disturbance in the force caused Ash to dive to the side. It  
was a good thing he did too, because at that exact moment two big dog like creatures with large, sharp  
teeth leapt through the air, and landed where he was just standing.  
"Have fun with my petsssss." The Trandoshan said with an evil laugh. "Wish I could ssstay, but I  
have other bussinesss to attend to."  
"What are those?" Accuma asked, holding his force pike defensively.  
"Vornskirs." Ash said. "They hunt through the force. If you have no force ability, you shouldn't  
have any problems."  
Immediately one of the creatures spun around and began pacing back and forth in front of  
Accuma.  
"I could be wrong." Ash said.  
"This is a hell of a time for that." Accuma said over the powering up of the Trandoshan's engines.  
"No problem, just avoid their teeth." Ash said, spinning the staff part of this light saber around  
and deflecting a lunge.  
"Anything else, Captain obvious?" Accuma asked, catching the attacking Vornskir's mouth on  
the shaft of this force pike.  
"Yeah, they have mean claws." Ash answered spinning himself around and piercing the attacking  
Vornskir through the heart with his light saber.  
"A little help here." Accuma said, eyeing the blaster that Ash pulled out of the trandoshan's  
hands, while trying to keep the Vornskir at bay.  
Thinking quickly, Ash used the force to move some sand around. The pull of the force was too  
irresistible for the Vornskir to ignore, and it spun around and leapt at Ash. It didn't get too far, however.  
When the Vornskir turned to attack Ash, Accuma was able to grab the sure shot z-9000, and quickly put  
an end to this Vornskir's hunting days.  
Deactivating his blade with a sad scowl, Ash commented: "I wish we didn't have to do that."  
"These are fakes." Accuma said drawing Ash's attention away from the dead animals. Accuma  
was looking at Identification badges of the four men hired by the trandoshan. "They're not even good  
fakes."  
"Are you sure you want to stay here?" Ash asked, and Accuma looked at him as if he just  
remembered something.  
"You lied to me! You are a Jedi." Accuma said.  
"Whoa, wait. What makes you say that?"  
"Because I've never even heard of anyone but a Jedi wield a lightsaber, let alone make their own."  
"I'm in training, but I've been told by my master I can't call myself a Jedi Knight until I am seen  
and tested by the Jedi Council."  
"That's probably why my dad hates the Jedi so much." Accuma said. "They're too full of  
themselves."  
"What do you mean?"  
"It's very obvious you train on a regular basis. If not, you wouldn't have been able to disarm the  
trandoshan the first time, let alone think rationally while under fire." Accuma said. "Are you going to let  
some stupid pomp and circumstance stop you from living the way you obviously feel you should be? It's  
very apparent you haven't let it stop you up to now, so why even bother with it?"  
"With great power comes great responsibility." Ash said.  
"What in the hell is that supposed to mean?" Accuma asked. "Look, just because you're a trained  
fighter doesn't mean you have to report to other beings who can kick you out of their little club if you do  
something they don't like."  
"Everyone answers to somebody." Ash said.  
"Not everyone." Accuma answered.  
"Yeah." Ash said with a sarcastic look around at the sparse landscape of Accuma's farm. "Look,  
we gotta do something with the dead before they start to stink. What do you usually do?"  
"You make it sound like this is a common occurrence." Accuma said.  
Ash just stared at him. Accuma shook his head and gave a quick sigh.  
"Come on." Accuma said. "We'll load all these guys into the cargo hold of the sky hopper, take  
them out and dump them off somewhere in the wastes."  
"Well, after we dispose of the bodies, let's go get my ship."


End file.
